Joy vs Happiness

We are now twelve days away from Christmas. As this day draws nearer, I like to watch how others deal with the holiday. For those who do not know Jesus, I ask myself, what are they looking for? Why do they invest so much time, energy, and especially money into this one day? Parents drive themselves crazy making sure their children have a wonderful and magical Christmas. They will stand in lines for hours to get that one toy everyone is crazy about and wants. When my sister was young it was the “Cabbage Patch dolls.” When my boys were little, it was “Tickle Me Elmo.” I remember getting off work at two in the morning and going to stores to find my oldest son a “Buzz Lightyear.” The funny thing is I’m not sure where any of those toys are right now. I have no problem doing those things because we all want our children to be “happy” on Christmas morning. The problem is for many we never get past the whole happiness thing. We live in a world that robs and steals people’s happiness from them. I come to you today to talk about something better than happiness, something that this world cannot take away and lasts longer than just one day. I’m talking about joy. Joy is what we have in our hearts because of hope, peace, and love. Toys, gifts, and money cannot permanently provide any of these things. Oh sure, we can have a day of peace, hope, and even love, but I am talking about a joy that comes and never leaves because circumstances cannot dictate our joy. As a follower of Jesus, we have joy because we know that no matter what Jesus has complete control over every aspect of our lives and man cannot steal that from us. We have this joy the day we receive Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord. In that instance, we are transformed into children of the Living God. This cannot be taken from us, ever. My devotions this morning reminded me of this great joy that is mine. Hebrews 2:14-15, “Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives.” You see, Christmas should remind us that God came to rescue us from the grip of the evil one and when we accept the free gift of salvation we are forever and ever free. Happiness can come and go, but joy is forever ours for those who have called out for salvation. My prayer for all of us this Christmas is to focus on the joy that comes from a loving God. Remember, you are loved and there is always joy found in that truth.